comsvscordsConfusable pair

Which to use

“coms” and “cords” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#48,668
“coms” frequency rank
#18,281
“cords” frequency rank
66949
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature coms cords
Definition Combinations (underwear). plural of cord

Letter map: coms vs cords

Shared letters muted; letters that set coms and cords apart highlighted. Shared run: 3.

4 ch
coms
5 ch
cords

Pair insight - coms / cords

coms and cords are indexed as a confusable English pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 66949, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

coms is recorded at frequency rank #48,668, classified as anoun. cords is at rank #18,281, tagged as anoun, pronounced /kɔːdz/.

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 66949, this pair ranks #65,626 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of coms vs cords

Shared letters: cos. Private to "coms": m. Private to "cords": dr.

"coms" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "cords" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • comsccoms · comms · comss · cosm · ocms
  • cordsccords · codrs · cordds · cordss · corrds · corsd · crods · ocrds

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "coms" for "cords" ever safe?
No. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Frequency check: "coms" vs "cords" - which ranks higher?
"cords" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,281 in our English list, against #48,668 for "coms". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

You've compared "coms" and "cords". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "coms" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "cords" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #65,626 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "coms" and "cords" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cami vs coms". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #65,626 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list